Maestro Dingwall Fleary – Celebrating Forty Years of Classical Music Leadership in McLean, VA

Maestro Dingwall Fleary, Founder and Music Director of both The McLean Symphony and the Reston Community Orchestra is working hard developing his Season Finale Concert for The McLean Symphony. This spectacular event will feature Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony Choral Finale, the much-loved and ever-popular magnificent Ode to Joy.

Now why should this matter to you?
There are very few genius-level leaders who combine their artistic passion with intense devotion to their people. Forty years of “making music in McLean.” This is with an all-volunteer symphonic orchestra. (Actually, two such orchestras. The McLean Symphony traces its ancestry back to Maestro Fleary’s first founding of a classical chamaber group in McLean in 1971, and the Reston Community Orchestra has been in existence for 26 years.)
Some of his players have been with him for over two decades. Others travel for miles, after a hard day at their “day jobs,” to rehearse with him.
Why? Because by working with Maestro Fleary, they achieve heights of excellence – greatness even – that they would not reach with any amount of hard work and passion on their own. Not if they are being “volunteers” in their musical efforts. (And relatively few of us can afford to do our artistic work full-time.)
The mark of “true genius” changes over time. When we are young, it is all about our own fire; our brilliance and our passion. We epitomize the Magician archetype. And bluntly, society will forgive a great deal of self-centeredness in the young artist, provided that the gift is commensurate. We cut the “emerging prodigy” a great deal of slack.
Then, the artist matures to establishing himself or herself. He or she becomes an Emperor, recognized as the “preeminent expert” in a certain area. Maestro Fleary, for example, is very likely the world’s leading interpreter of Duke Ellington’s works, such as Harlem, which he featured in a recent TMS performance.
Beyond that, there is yet another stage; the Hierophant. The Hierophant is the master teacher, the Obi-Wan Kenobi. Hierophants are one of the least-understood archetypes of our society. However, once we understand the Hierophant concept, we see Hierophants in action all around us. They’re the senior executive who mentors the up-and-comer. They’re the Youth Pastor and the Girl Scout Troup Leader. They’re the college professor who always has an open door so that a student can come by and ask questions.
And even more than that, the most-developed Hierophants among us not only help us get through the college chemistry course; they help us have real, true, honest-to-God, for-real breakthroughs. These are the teachers whose books we read, whose audio CDs we listen to, whose blogs we follow. If we’re really lucky, we get to interact with them in person.
That’s why musicians travel from around the area for the privilege of performing in his orchestra.
Maestro Fleary was featured in Unveiling: The Inner Journey as an example of an “integrated person.”